Alamo library items to move by July 11

The DRT Library building was dedicated on December 2, 1950. It is slated for a roof replacement and other renovations this year, possibly for use as exhibit space. Staff Photo By: John Davenport

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas have settled a lawsuit over some 38,000 library items at the Alamo and will soon move them out, with hopes of housing them in a local university facility.

A settlement announced Friday in the lawsuit filed last year against the Texas General Land Office by the DRT closes a final chapter in the Daughters’ departure from the state shrine, where the group had maintained a presence since 1905. The Land Office announced last month that it would not claim ownership of books, family papers and other items stored in the Alamo Research Center, formerly known at the DRT Library.

“The Daughters held fast, and our prayers were answered,” Dr. Betty Edwards, DRT president general, said in a news release.

The Land Office agreed to pay $200,000 to the DRT to cover attorney fees. Lamont Jefferson, the lawyer representing the Daughters in the case, said the DRT is funding the cost of the collection’s relocation, which must occur by July 11 under the agreement. He said the lawsuit, which also named Land Commissioner George P. Bush as a defendant, sought to resist “the overreach of the state.”

“The end result is that the Daughters are giving up nothing to the state,” Jefferson said.

The DRT is negotiating with Texas A&M University-San Antonio to staff and maintain the collection at an A&M facility that is off the main campus on the South Side.

“We are working on some final details but have every expectation when an agreement is reached in the near future that we will be able to display the collection and continue to make it available for research before the end of the year,” the university said.

Jefferson said the archives will likely be moved to an undisclosed temporary location in the weeks ahead but may be available for use by researchers. The library had closed June 1 in preparation for the move.

In the settlement agreement, the Land Office and DRT agreed that the state will retain some items at the Alamo, including architectural blueprints, preservation records and several items donated by rock musician Phil Collins. Most of Collins’ artifacts that were donated to the Alamo were moved a year ago to the Land Office vault in Austin.

The Land Office said it will now focus on development of a long-range master plan for the state-owned Alamo complex and surrounding area. The agency is working with the city and the nonprofit Alamo Endowment to craft the plan, with a draft version expected in November, that could include a vision for a modern visitor center, improved pedestrian access, public art and other design elements.

“We are all pleased to resolve this issue in a manner that allows the DRT to continue to manage this important collection of historic books, photographs, documents and artifacts,” Mark Havens, Land Office general counsel, said in a news release.

He added that the agency will concentrate “on our primary goal of conserving this treasured historic site and enhancing the visitor experience at the Alamo, the cradle of Texas liberty.”

Last year, using much of

$25 million allocated by the Legislature for projects resulting from the master plan, the Land Office purchased three historic buildings on the west side of Alamo Plaza for

$14.4 million. The buildings are in the geographic footprint of the 1700s Mission San Antonio de Valero and 1836 Alamo compound, site of a famed siege and battle for Texas independence.

The master plan will examine whether the buildings should be razed, relocated or left in place as part of a larger, more defined Alamo complex.

The DRT, Alamo custodians from 1905 to 2011, began accumulating the library collection in 1945. The building that housed it opened in 1950. That structure’s future use has not been determined. The building is slated for renovations, including replacement of its roof, later this year.

The DRT, meanwhile, will “refocus on our mission to ensure the next generation of Texans understand and appreciate our unique history as a sovereign republic,” Edwards said.

“We may just be a nonprofit organization of women, but we are Texas women,” she said.

Scott Huddleston is a veteran staff writer at the San Antonio Express-News, covering military and veterans affairs, history and preservation. He has been a reporter at the Express-News since 1985, covering a variety of issues, including public safety, flooding, transportation and local government. Scott covered the final construction phase of the SBC Center -- now AT&T Center, where the Spurs play -- in 2002, and wrote a weekly historical feature, "Then&Now" for the Sunday Metro section from 2001-2006.